Solid material beating means with plural blades

ABSTRACT

A removable beater-blade for use in either a fiberizer or a willow, for releasing asbestos fibers from ore and for further fiberizing the asbestos fibers, the beater-blade including two or more blades mounted on a common pin near the peripheral edge of a rotatable disc with each of the individual blades extending in different directions such that a commonly mounted blades are staggered with each leading blade at a lower level than each following commonly mounted blade, and the leading edge of each blade is lower than the following edge whereby when the disc is rotated each pitched blade creates an air pressure above each blade and a vacuum turbulence beneath each blade as the discmounted blades revolve in a path substantially perpendicular to the path of movement (or falling) asbestos ore and/or fibrous material.

United States Patent Inventor Thomas Harry Sadler Mlddlesex. NJ.

App]. N(1 752,633

Filed Aug. 14, 1968 Patented July 6, l97l Assignee .lohns-Manville Corporation New York, N.Y.

SOLID MATERIAL BEATING MEANS WITH PLURAL BLADES 9 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

5/1915 Tebbetts FOREIGN PATENTS France 1 241/188 ABSTRACT: A removable beater-blade for use in either a fiberizer or a willow, for releasing asbestos fibers from ore and for further fiberizing the asbestos fibers, the beater-blade including two or more blades mounted on a common pin near the peripheral edge of a rotatable disc with each of the individual blades extending in different directions such that a commonly mounted blades are staggered with each leading blade at a lower level than each following commonly mounted blade, and the leading edge of each blade is lower than the following edge whereby when the disc is rotated each pitched blade creates an air pressure above each blade and a vacuum turbulence beneath each blade as the disc-mounted blades revolve in a path substantially perpendicular to the path of movement (or falling) asbestos ore and/or fibrous material.

PATENTEU JUL 6 l9?! INVENTOR. THOMAS H. SADLER ATTORNEV SOLID MATERIAL BEATING MEANS WITH PLURAL BLADES This invention relates to blades (leaves) conventionally employed in a fiberizer to extract asbestos fibers from the ore, or normally employed in willows to further fiberize or open the asbestos fibers.

BACKGROUND In the willows and fiberizers prior to this invention, a series of separate blades were individually mounted as a stack of blades with several stacks at different points, respectively, around the peripheral edge of a mounting concentric disc which revolved on a shaft. As these separately mounted and stacked (one superimposed over the other)-blades revolved with the revolving disc, the asbestos fibers being either dropped or blown in a path substantially perpendicular to the path of rotation of the blade around the shaft, the distance between the leading edge of any two consecutive, separately mounted stacks of blades increased at points further from the shaft. At the distal ends of the stacked blades (i.e., at the points most distant from the shaft), a major space existed between the leading edges of the consecutive stacks of blades separately mounted around the disc, whereby a large amount of ore and/or asbestos fibers passed between the blades without receiving any beating-action from the revolving blades. Accordingly, for a given rate of rotation of the disc on which the several stacks of blades were mounted, it was necessary to pass the asbestos ore and/or fibers through the beaterblade means more times in series than would be necessary if the stacks of blades were mounted closer together. However, because of physical and structural limitations such as the stress imparted to the rotating blades which required a blade having sufficient body near the mounting to withstand the stress, concurrently because there is a limited amount of space around the peripheral edge of the relatively small disc on which the individual stacks of blades are mounted at different positions, and because the disc must be retained at a relatively small size in order to have a maximum length of beating edge for each of the attached blades, it was impractical to increase the number of mounted stacks of blades above a given number as physically limited by the space available for mountings.

Also, in apparatuses prior to this invention, fan apparatuses were employed in conjunction with the willow apparatuses whereby the blades ofa fan served to further lift and open the asbestos fibers.

Although it might be possible to alter the basic design of the mounting disc in order to approach a solution to the above problems, such an alteration would be prohibitive on a practical industrial scale because of the major alterations necessary in the currently existing machinery. Also new problems arise as to the convenience and ease of insertion of new blades and the adequate anchoring of blades onto the mounting edge of the disc.

THE OBJECTS An object of this invention is a blade which overcomes the above discussed problems.

Another object of this invention is a blade for a willow or for a fiberizer which increases the efficiency by reducing space between blades.

"Another object of this invention is improving willow and/or fiberizing action of asbestos fibrous material.

Other objects become apparent from the above and following disclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The problems discussed above are overcome, and the objects of this invention are obtained by a particular disc having blades mounted thereon, or a conventional disc currently found in industry having particular removable stacks of blades of a structure as follow. According to this invention, either several blades are mounted one on top of the other with a spacing means which assures that the outer extended ends of the blades will remain separated (spread) in a fanlike position, and/or each single blade per stack at each mounting position is a compound blade having a single base but divided into a plurality of separate blades per base. The stacked and spread blades may be employed in typically any of numerous conventional willows and/or fiberizers. The particular design of the mounting end of the blade may be adapted to the particular design of willow and/or fiberizer on which the blade is to be employed. However, in the figures illustrating the invention, the mounting base is a disc-type mounting base with merely an insert pin anchoring a removable blade. A mounting base of a different shape may be employed.

BROAD DESCRIPTION FIG. I for example illustrates a typical conventional disctype mounting base A as viewed from the top, i.e. as viewed from the direction from which the asbestos ore and/or fibrous material would be introduced toward the disc, normally by an airstream under negative pressure and/or by the pull of gravity. The disc A rotates around a rotating shaft e. The stacked and spread blades at mounting position n of each of FIGS. I and II are typically designated a, b, and c, with a spacing band d fixedly attached around blade b, in such a manner as to exert the force on the edges of blade a and blade b. This spacing means is of course merely one typical illustrative example of any of a variety of possible spacing means within the scope of this invention that may be employed advantageously to maintain the blades in the spread (i.e. spaced) condition during operation.

FIG. II represents a frontal view of blades a, b, and c as mounted at n on the disc A. In FIG. II, x illustrates the relative direction of movement of asbestos fibrous material relative to the position of the blades. In FIG. I, t represents the relative movement of the disc A. It should be noted that for commonly mounted stacked blades, the leading edge of each lower blade preferably precedes the movement of the leading edge of any additional stacked blades, the leading edge of each lower blade preferably precedes the movement of the leading edge of any additional stacked blades mounted above.

Each of FIGS. III and IV illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which a single mounted blade radiates into several bladesf, g, h,j, and k, mounted at n with t representing the direction of movement of the disc A and stacked blades mounted thereon. In each of FIGS. III and IV, m designates a curved portion of the blade extensions whereby the individual blade extensions rotate in different but parallel planes as the disc revolves. As shown in FIGS. III and IV the leading edge of the lower blade extension precedes in the direction of rotation any additional blade extension at relatively higher planes of rotation.

FIG. V illustrates a different design of blades which as a result of the blade designs when commonly mounted at point r have a center of gravity p which causes the blades to be spaced in the absence of any additional spacing means, when subjected to centrifugal action of a revolving disc. Again, the direction of rotation of a disc (not shown) on which the blades would be mounted is illustrated by 1.

FIG. VI illustrates a preferred design of any one blade w of two or more commonly mounted blades, x again illustrating the relative movement of fibrous material in relation to the relative rotating movement I of the leading edge of the blades when mounted on a rotating disc such as disc A of FIG. I. Also FIG. VI illustrates a typical spacing means d which is clampable into grooves E.

FIG. VII illustrates a preferred angle of incline or pitch of at least the peripheral faces and edges of any one or more of two or more stacked blades w mounted at a single point. In this FIG. VII, t again illustrates the plane of movement of a disc (not shown) and the blade mounted thereon, relative to the direction of movement it of fibrous material. It should be noted that the surface of the upper face y of the blade is inclined upward and that the surface of the lower face c of the blade w is also slanted upward.

FIG. VIII illustrates two stacked and spread blades attached at a common point i with 1 again indicating the direction of relative movement of the blades corresponding to the direction of movement of the disc A to which the blades are attached. This FIG. VIII is illustrative of the concept illus trated in FIG. VII. In FIG. VIII, leading (upper) face V and following (lower) face correspond to the FIG. VII upper leading face y and lower following face z. I

FIG. IX illustrates an embodiment in which the pitch is sufficiently great that the leading face I is substantially perpendicular to the plane of disc (and blade) rotation.

FIG. X illustrates a segment of a typical prior art conventional disc A, which includes an indenture in which a mounting end of a blade of this invention may be inserted with pin 1' having a notch B for clamp (locking means) D after the pin is inserted through the disc and blade mounting holes.

In particular, the novelty of this invention lies in the improvement of blades employed in prior art apparatus of the conventional type of the willow and fiberizer having preferably removable beating means of the conventional hammer and blade types mounted on a rotatable shaft means having several stacked (one superimposed over the other) beating means commonly mounted ina substantially common plane of rotation (as the mounting disc rotates) at separate mounting points around a shaft means such as disc A. The improvement of this invention comprises in substitution for the prior art stack of superimposed blades (leaves), the employment of at least two beater blades substantially commonly mounted and peripherally spaced, at a single point (mounting position) in a manner (1) whereby a major and substantial portion of each beater blade extends in a fanlike manner in a direction substantially radial to the mounting shaft means and is at least peripherally radially spaced in a direction substantially different from the direction of remaining commonly mounted beater blades, and (2) whereby beater-blade leading edges are normally substantially perpendicular to the plane of rotation.

In one embodiment of the invention, the commonly mounted two or more blades may be in the form of a single blade unit of the type illustrated in FIG. III, in which several blades extend from a common beginning structure. Also, two or more blades of the type of FIG. Ill may be stacked at a common mounting.

Alternatively, the separate blade extensions may be individually removable blades mounted on an intermediate mounting-base which base would be mounted on the mounting disc; also, the separate peripherally spaced blades may be replaced by stacks of preferably peripherally spaced blades, in substitution for each blade extension. In either the FIG. Ill embodiment or the above-discussed alternative, because the blade extensions and/or removable blades are already peripherally spaced, it is not necessary but is merely preferred that they extend in radially different directions from one another.

For any embodiments of this invention, the term substantially commonly mounted" is intended to include embodiments such as discussed in the preceding paragraph, as well as embodiments in which the blades are separately mounted by separate pins on the disc but mounted in such closely adjacent mounting positions as to cause the blades to overlap and/or to require the peripheral spacing means of this invention.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, commonly mounted blades of the type illustrated in any of FIGS. I, III, V, VI, or VIII, for example, are mounted and/or are of a design such that each of the radially extending stacked blades having a common mounting rotate in a different but parallel plane of rotation of other commonly mounted blades, as the disc rotates around the shaft. In each of FIGS. I, V, and VII, for example, inherently the planes of rotation of the different blades would be different but parallel to one another, as the mounting disc rotates. However, in an embodiment such as illustrated in FIGS. Ill and IV, the blade design is such that the spaced bladesf, g, h,j, and k rotate (as the disc rotates) in dif- 5 ferent but parallel planes of rotation as a result of the curvature designated m in each of the blade extensions.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, particularly where the individual blade or blade extensions are not substantially inclined relative to the plane of disc rotation, at least the leading edge of the blade is broadened as illustrated in FIG. VI.

In another preferred embodiment the individual blade may have the normal width of leading edge but at least the outer extremities of the blade have an inclined pitch of the nature illustrated in each of FIGS. VII and VIII.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the leading edge of the blade is at an angle relative to each of the upper and lower faces of the blade such as illustrated in FIG. VII with blade w having a leading edge s at an angle to the face y and the face z, whereby the leading face s still is substantially perpendicular to the plane of rotation t, and still serves a beater function by moving substantially in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the asbestos fibrous material x but advantageously having the advantage of additional beater action as a result of the leading face y.

A particular advantage of an embodiment such as illustrated in FIG. V is that the individual blades are ofa simple structure which may be simply stamped out (employing a press) of a sheet metal plate, each of the stamped blades having the same structure including one or more holes imparted thereto through which the mounting pin r is inserted. Multiple holes are preferred to permit ready alternative mountings whereby the mounted blades overlap in a peripherally spaced manner. Multiple holes allow the mounting of a greater number of blades having different centers of gravity, by using a different mounting hole per additionally stacked blades, and also by reversing alternate blades, for example. In this embodiment, the separate blades commonly mounted move in different but parallel planes of rotation as the disc to which they are mounted rotates, the blades are easily and inexpensively produced, the blades are easily mounted, and the blades, because of the manner of mounting, have a center of gravity which by centrifugal action maintains the stacked blades in an extended position in the absence of an additional spacing means attached to one or more of the blades. Relative to the mounting disc, the blades remain substantially stationary during rotation.

Although for embodiments such as illustrated in FIG. Ill it is not essential that each of the spaced blade extensions include a curvature m which places the blade extensions in separate planes of rotation as the disc rotates, i.e. it is not necessary that the individual blade extensions have different planes of rotation as the disc rotates, it is preferred that the planes of rotation be different for the following reasons. Where the planes of rotation (as the disc rotates) are different but parallel, the leading edges of the blades have a greater opportunity and likelihood of impacting asbestos fibrous material having a path or fall perpendicular to the rotating movement of the blade. Moreover, it is preferred, as noted above, that the leading edge of the lower blade precede the leading edge of any additionally commonly mounted blades because thereby each of the following blades has an improved opportunity to impact additional falling fibrous material, in contrast to the situation that would exist if the leading edge of any one or more following blades were located in a plane below the level of the plane of the first leading blade. In an arrangement where the following blades were at a lower level of rotation, the asbestos fibers falling on top of the first blade would merely slide onto the top surface of the second blade, and from the top of the second blade to the top of the third blade, and the like, without having any impact whatsoever with any of the secondary blades.

An advantage of the preferred embodiments having a broad leading edge such as s in FIG. V1 is a large area for impact upon falling asbestos fibrous material. Additionally, in FIG. Vl, the lower face of the blade is inclined upward such as is illustrated in H6. Vll by lower face z, each of which serves to create a vacuum air turbulence which tends to prevent the fall of some fibrous materials and which lifts such fibrous materials again up to the level of the blade whereby the next following blade has a greater opportunity for impact with the lifted fibrous material.

Another advantage of the pitch of at least the outer extremities of the blade or blade extension such as illustrated in FlGS. VII, Vlll, and IX, in addition to the lift obtained by the inclined lower surfaces 1 and o, is a beater-action by the upper leading face y and v, for example.

An additional advantage of the preferred embodiments having pitch such as illustrated in FlGS.. VII and Vlll is the fanning action obtained by the employment of such pitch whereby the fibers blown and/or falling in the direction indicated by x are lifted and held suspended thereby affording additional opportunity for willow and/or fiberizing action by the beater-blades.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention, each of the blades commonly attached to a single point are separate blades and are separately removable from the other commonly mounted blades, such an arrangement having the advantage of removing only such blade which requires removal for one reason or another without necessitating the removal of an entire unit of commonly mounted blades. Additionally, each unit of the commonly mounted and stacked blades is preferably separate from the discon which they are mounted for the same reason.

In conventional fiberizers, the number of stacks of blades per mounting disc is normally about eight as compared to a conventional willow which is normally about l2. In each of conventional fiberizers and willows, four blades (leaves) per stack are normally employed. In the conventional fiberizer, located on each shaft at different levels, are normally about three separate mounting discs, as compared to the conventional willow which normally has about four separate mounting discs at different levels. Accordingly, as compared to the conventional fiberizer which normally would have about 24 stacks of leaves (blades) in total, the number of stacks of blades possible by this invention would be about the same, but the blades are peripherally spread to cover a peripheral area two or three times as great. Similarly, the number of stacks of blades in the conventional willow and the willow of this invention would be each about 48, but the area covered by the spread blades of this invention would be about at least 2 or 3 times as great.

In the conventional fiberizer, the length of the leaf (blade) normally is about inches and the width of the leaf(blade) is about 2 inches, with a typical thickness of about one-fourth inch. in a typical willow, the leaves (blades) normally are about 12 inches in length with a width of about 2 inches, and the leaves might be of a lesser thickness than fiberizer leaves.

For the spaced blades of this invention, therefore, the length of the individual blades, the width of the individual blades, and the thickness of the individual blades may be adapted to any length, width, and thickness that may be desired. Normally, however, in order to be employable within the conventional apparatus thereby avoiding substantial and expensive modifications of existing industrial machinery and tooling, the length, width, and thickness for each-of the fiberizer and/or willow leaves (blades) would be about the same as the conventional leaves (blades) currently in use in the currently conventional fiberizers and/or willows being employed in industry today.

By the term commonly mount as applied to this invention, embodiments are included in which the plurality of stacked and spaced blades (blades not more than partially peripherally superimposed over other blades of the same stack) are mounted on fractionally spaced mounting pins having overlapping substantially peripherally spaced blades which are mounted nevertheless on multiple separate pins.

In addition to the apparatus of this invention, the invention includes a process comprising subjecting fibrous asbestos feed materials to a beating action of at least two spaced and separate beater blades (leaves) mounted at a common point revolvable around a shaft, the separate beater blades preferably mounted in separate but parallel planes of rotation around the revolving shaft.

Although the present invention is primarily directed to improving the willowing and/or fiberizing action (i.e. releasing the fibrous material from the asbestos ore, or further opening the fibrous material already separated from the ore), the scope of this invention includes the opening of other fibers, or the beating of other solid materials which must be either granulated or at least must for one reason or another be subjected to a beating action in a desirably efficient and inexpen sive manner. For any of such situations, the improved apparatus of this invention substantially reduces cost by obtaining the end results within a much shorter period of time and with improved efficiency of existing machinery. For example, various clay or ceramic materials could advantageously be subjected to the beater action of the improved apparatus of this invention.

The following example is intended to solely illustrate the invention and not to unduly limit the invention except to the extent to which the appended claims are limited.

EXAMPLE In this experiment, a fiberizing apparatus was employed using an existing design and subsequently using an improved design of this invention for fiberizing asbestos fibrous material. For each of the existing conventional design and improved design employing the improvement of this invention, the fibrous material was passed through a first time and then a second time. After the first pass, each of the surface area, the buoyancy suspension end by minute, l0 minute, and 3 hour periods, and the TAPPl (standard) drainage in terms of seconds per unit volume of water were measured. Similarly after the second pass, the same tests were performed. The results of these test are illustrated in Table l below.

From the above Table the improved results obtained by the employment of the blades of this invention of the type illustrated in Figure V are illustrated.

This invention includes modifications and substitutions of equivalents which would be obvious to an ordinary artisan in the art.

lclaim:

1. In an apparatus for beating solid materials having beating means connected to mounting means for rotation about a shaft to contact solid materials traveling in currents generally axial to said shaft the improvement wherein:

a. said beating means comprises a plurality of groups of beating edges mounted on said mounting means;

b. means for maintaining a predetermined angular distance between the beating edges of each group;

c. means for maintaining a predetermined distance between each of said groups;

d. adjacent beating edges within a group upon rotation about the longitudinal axis of said shaft describing cylinders the lengths of which do not coincide whereby solid material is contacted more frequently by said heating edges while traveling axial of said shaft.

2 The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein a spacing means is connected to said beating means for maintaining said predetermined angular distance.

3. The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of groups of blades are commonly mounted within groups on the mounting means for rotation about said shaft, each blade within a group has a center of gravity which lies in a common plane passing through a full longitudinal extent of the shaft, and said blades in each group are adapted to be differently mounted such that the centrifugal action of the respective centers of gravity upon rotation act to maintain said predetermined distance.

4. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein a leading beating edge within a group precedes any other beating edge within such group and describes upon rotation about a vertically disposed longitudinal axis of said shaft a cylinder substantially lower than that described by any adjacent beating edge within such group.

5. The invention as recited in claim 1 including locking means for removably mounting said beating means in a fixed position on said mounting means 6. The invention as recited claim 1 wherein: said beating edges are arranged in groups positioned at spaced locations along the shaft.

7. The invention according to claim 6 wherein the beating edges of each groups are carried by a plurality of blades, each blade within a group having a common mounting position on said mounting means.

8. The invention according to claim 1, wherein each beating edge is adapted to contact and open fibrous masses within portions of said material.

9. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein the lengths of cylinders described by said adjacent beating edges during said rotation are not coincident with cylindrical lengths described by other beating edges within the group. 

1. In an apparatus for beating solid materials having beating means connected to mounting means for rotation about a shaft to contact solid materials traveling in currents generally axial to said shaft the improvement wherein: a. said beating means comprises a plurality of groups of beating edges mounted on said mounting means; b. means for maintaining a predetermined angular distance between the beating edges of each group; c. means for maintaining a predetermined distance between each of said groups; d. adjacent beating edges within a group upon rotation about the longitudinal axis of said shaft describing cylinders the lengths of which do not coincide whereby solid material is contacted more frequently by said beating edges while traveling axial of said shaft.
 2. The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein a spacing means is connected to said beating means for maintaining said predetermined angular distance.
 3. The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of groups of blades are commonly mounted within groups on the mounting means for rotation about said shaft, each blade within a group has a center of gravity which lies in a common plane passing through a full longitudinal extent of the shaft, and said blades in each group are adapted to be differently mounted such that the centrifugal action of the respective centers of gravity upon rotation act to maintain said predetermined distance.
 4. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein a leading beating edge within a group precedes any other beating edge within such group and describes upon rotation about a vertically disposed longitudinal axis of said shaft a cylinder substantially lower than that described by any adjacent beating edge within such group.
 5. The invention as recited in claim 1 including locking means for removably mounting said beating means in a fixed position on said mounting means.
 6. The invention as recited claim 1 wherein: said beating edges are arranged in groups positioned at spaced locations along the shaft.
 7. The invention according to claim 6 wherein the beating edges of each groups are carried by a plurality of blades, each blade within a group having a common mounting position on said mounting means.
 8. The invention according to claim 1, wherein each beating edge is adapted to contact and open fibrous masses within portions of said material.
 9. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein the lengths of cylinders described by said adjacent beating edges during said rotation are not coincident with cylindrical lengths described by other beating edges within the group. 